Fascinating, but sorry, Mr Vance, no cigar
I'll grant that this is a pretty slick technology, but...
it does not appear to handle temperature extremes.
More than likely, that's why work on it was dropped.
It certainly looks worth pursusing, perhaps with some kind of radiator system woven into the fabric. But with NASA's NEO detection budget set at only around $3.8 million per year, clearly NASA has other more pressing prioties.
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